There are many causes of organisational change such as economic downturns, changes in strategy, government legislation, labour market pressure, technological changes and natural evolvement.
It is crucial that organisations manage this change from within and understand and plan for the effects it may have on their employees.
Introducing change to an organisation can be difficult and managers need to gain the support and commitment of their colleagues and employees to ensure that change is managed effectively and business continues as usual with as little disruption as possible.
Failure to do this can result in a loss of talented employees, a loss of credibility and a loss of the organisation market position.
It is usual for organisations to encounter resistance to change.
Employees may be concerned for their job, be sensitive to change, dislike the change that is taking place, or dislike the process in which it is taking place.
To combat this employers need to ensure that they communicate with their employees on a continuous basis, provide any training that may be required for new roles or changes to current roles, and ensure that the reasons for the change are communicated from the offset.
Furthermore, it is important that organisations ensure that managers receive sufficient training in area such as project management, change management and leadership skills can impact negatively on the effectiveness of any change initiative.